you say love is a burning building: then run in: to save the woman on the second floor: the one you've watched as she stood in the window: as you walked past her apartment: on the other side of the street: she always seems to be wearing red: always in the window: as though she knew you were coming: and yes: you do have a tendency to be punctual: like a self-fulfilling prophecy: both of you approaching ritual: and now this fire: this urgency: you run through the flames: wrapped in a sheet: through trapped billowing smoke: you bound the stairs: you know the door: you kick it in: you pull her body into your arms: carry her out into the street: as you've always known you would: when you first struck the match: so many weeks before

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HINGED

for Sam Witt

you feel like a door: only holding your hinges: as though somewhere a naked frame: is sobbing: in this light you like to think about the brightness of the moon: someone holds a guitar neck like a slaughtered goose: and sings Istanbul—not Constantinople: and you have to laugh: other times you feel like a giant tooth: rough-surfaced like the moon: but usually late at night: before dreams of floss: someone holds a toothbrush like a rifle: and sings hi-ho it's off to work we go: perhaps there is too much vodka in the world: you are listening to a cricket calling out: among the starlight: like a squeaky hinge: you sing the oil can serenade: swaying back and forth: until the words work their way in with the pin

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Both of these poems were written as part of my "birthday poems" project which were partially born of ekphrastic writing while drawing from other inspirations including from the honorees themselves.